Let me share with you a little secret! This secret has been with me for one year now and I am really excited to share it with you people. Well the secret is how I managed to convince my in-laws to marry their daughter to me despite me and my family living in the worst smelling area in Mumbai.
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| my building |
Our house or rather builidng was situated bang near the famous Gorai dump. A little about the Gorai dump, the Gorai garbage dump was the largest one in Mumbai before the Honorable High Court decided to close it down. In 2006 it was completely shut down and masked with a cover of giant tarpaulin. Despite it being covered it emitted a obnoxious smell day in and day out.
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| This is the tarpaulin covered dump now |
Since we had been living in this building since 2001 we were quite accustomed to the smell(you can say our noses were mutated to the smell) but it posed a big problem when a friend or a relative visited my house. The stink, which was normal for us often attacked olfactory nerves of our visitors and made them leave early.
This was actually a blessing and a boon because, due to this stink we had pretty less visitors to your house over the years, saving us tonnes of money. The regular ones who came had become mutants like us and never complained about it.
The problem arose when, my parents started searching for a nice homely girl for me. Several proposals were received but when the girl and her family came to our house, they would just hold their noses and leave. We took their holding noses as a rejection to our marriage proposal.
But there was a twist in the tale. As they say marriages are made in heaven and decided on earth. In my case it was diametrically similar except that my marriage was probably made in heaven and decided on Earth by our friendly neighbourhood baniya (grocer). How ? ... Well read on.
One fine day my Mom announced that a Girl (my present wife) and her parents are coming today to see me and our residence. I knew that these people too, would run away holding their noses. And honestly I was sick of these guys running away but had no solution in site. Mom sent me down to get two bottles of cold drinks for the guests.
I went downstairs (rather ruefully at the thought of wasting money on two bottles of cold drinks knowing what the result would be) to our baniya. The good old chap is in his early 50s and very friendly with me. Noticing my pensive mood, he asked me what the matter was. His question opened the flood gates of my frustrations. I started blaming everybody in Gorai for my current dilemma, right from the BMC to our local sweeper.
When I told him that atleast 4 marriage proposals were rejected because of the great stinking dome of Gorai and today would be the 5th one. He laughed at me and said
bas itni si baat
I told him this was a big matter for my Mom as she was getting a little anxious to see me married. The baniya said "Yaar tum ye Ambi Pur ka naya home range try karo" I asked him "Yeh kya hai" to that he showed me the Ambi Pur Air Effects and the Ambi Pur Set and Refresh.
My baniya gave a all knowing smile as though he knew what my future had planned for me!!! I bought the set and came home. I showed my mother the set and she asked me what it that. I replied rather humorously that this set was the future of my life.
I splashed the Air Effects all over the room. Ironically I had bought the 'Blossom and Breeze' flavour, little did I know that this Spray will bring blossom in my life with breeze as a added bonus!!!
The Ambi Pur Set and Refresh, I kept in all the rooms. In a few moments even I was astonished by the quick effect of the Ambi Pur range and forgot that my house had a god awful stink just a few moments back.
Rest they say is history. My would be wife and her family came, approved me :) and my house. I dont think they realised that they were sitting very next to the garbage dump for a minute. The wedding was solemnised a few months after...
Even today I joke with my wife that she approved of me that day due to the Blossom and Breeze effect rather than my being tall, dark and handsome!!!
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